Capitola Begonia Festival Parade

The Capitola Begonia Festival has been a tradition in Santa Cruz County for 57 years. Every Labor Day Weekend Floats are decorated using local begonias and paraded down the Soquel Creek. Floats are generally either paddled or pulled down the river by kayak, canoes, surfboards. It's a small, but beloved tradition and I'm ashamed to say that before today, I had never gone. It was fun to watch from the train trestle. I wondered how a hundred people were going to escape if a train should arrive, but was assured the train did not run on Sundays. Then, I just worried that the old thing would cave in. Anyway, we survived and were entertained. The first float was manned, by a group of rowdy Cal Poly students. I'm not sure what their theme was, but they liked to chant. Other floats included various forms of transportation such as planes, automobiles and Captain Hook's boat from Peter Pan.

Taken from the Train Trestle high above Capitola, people on the Stockton Bridge and beach beyond are waiting for the parade to begin.

Spectators looking down from the train trestle which is high above the River below.



For those of you that don't know what a begonia looks like, here's a close up.


Click here to view a cool video for Capitolavillage.com by Romney Dunbar of Dunbar Productions. Romney was also one of the event MC's.